130 
THE FLORIST’S JOURNAL. 
fruit, and is known by the parts becoming at first moist and soft, 
and then dissolving into a foul black ichor; this variety of the 
disease infects some species of Cacti most particularly, and is 
very sudden in its action, beginning from a small black spot, 
which spreads till the whole leaf or branch rots off, or the shrub 
dies. Aquatic plants frequently suffer from this disease. It 
may be traced to a variety of causes, in some instances origin¬ 
ating in too wet or even too rich a soil, in others by a severe 
contusion or abrasion of the epidermis; in all cases it is infec¬ 
tious, and should therefore be speedily removed. There does 
not appear to be any remedy for it; and in point of fact it is im¬ 
possible there should be, for it is not seen until an entire disrup¬ 
tion of the parts affected has taken place: therefore, to prevent 
its extension, every part of the plant exhibiting the smallest 
germ of the disease should be cut away on the earliest disco¬ 
very, or the destruction of the whole plant, and not it alone, but 
probably others standing near, must inevitably follow. 
Editor. 
AN ENQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF ACCU¬ 
MULATIVE POTTING. 
It is no uncommon thing for prejudice to be carried to such an 
undue extent, as to form a barrier against the admission of truth ; 
and this is nowhere more strikingly demonstrated than in the 
horticultural world. When any new system is advanced, it is too 
often hastily condemned as being theoretical in its nature, with 
the greater inconsistency attached to the objection, from the 
fact that practical gardeners have much to do with theory, al¬ 
though generally unwilling to admit it. Seasons are not always 
alike, neither is our practice everywhere the same, for we are 
often called upon to exercise it in various localities ; so that we 
have to bring into action speculative ideas, where no practical 
rules exist. Would not, therefore, an acquaintance with the laws 
which govern the growth of vegetation be of essential service to 
the gardener ? Many of us are successful in our daily operations, 
owing to the influence of the favourable circum*stances under 
which we are placed (or surrounded), and we do not further 
trouble ourselves in endeavouring to assign a cause for the result 
obtained. As regards the theory of the one-shift system", I 
shall endeavour to show why such successful results have already 
